As the headline figure of an estimated 500,000 public sector job losses starts to sink in following today`s spending review announcement, we should remind ourselves that this is only an estimate. The really hard work of how £83 billion worth of spending cuts by 2015 will translate into job losses is likely to take some months to thrash out and even then there will be plenty of negotiations to be had with the unions....
Chancellor George Osbourne announced his Spending Review today. This was expected to set the deepest cuts in public spending in decades....
It has been widely reported in the press this week that Wayne Rooney has fallen out with manager Alex Ferguson and is looking to leave Manchester United when his current fixed term contract expires in 20 months time....
Last week it seemed everyone had an opinion on the current law on strikes in the wake of feared industrial action by public sector workers and an autumn-winter of discontent in response to the Government`s spending cuts. According to the Daily Telegraph and official figures, the number of public sector working days lost to disputes has already shot up in the 12 months to July due to walkouts such as the Civil Service strike in March and the Royal Mail action last year. A forthcoming opportunity to see how public sector workers will react to the cuts will take place on 20 October. The Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) is due to be announced then. This is the Government`s four year public spending plans and will include a sharp rise in pension contributions for nurses, teachers and other public sector staff. The BBC staff have also planned a strike that would hit the corporation`s coverage of the CSR. There is a fear that widespread unrest could jeopardise Britain`s fragile economic recovery....
The Supreme Court has handed down its Judgment in Gisada Syf v Barratt, upholding the decision of the Court of Appeal that a dismissal is not effective until it is communicated to the employee. When an employee is dismissed in writing this means that, so long as the employee has not deliberately avoided reading the letter, dismissal is not effective until the employee has read the letter....
The BBC has reported today that large bonuses cannot be taken away from doctors, even if their performance deteriorates, because of a loophole in the system....
Equal Pay for women is always a topical issue but even more so at the moment with the release of the film ‘Made in Dagenham` to stir women up. The coalition government`s emergency budget just compounded matters with the Fawcett Society stating that 72% of budget cuts will be met from women`s income. Could a second wave of feminism be brewing ......
Close to a million people are predicted to lose their jobs in the next four years as a result of budget cuts expected in the Government`s Comprehensive Spending Review, which will be announced next week....
According to the Law Gazette, yes. An article published on it`s website last week predicts that Tribunal`s will ‘struggle to cope` as they are ‘submerged` by a surge in cases stemming from the Equality Act 2010....
As the new series of the Apprentice hits our screens tonight, the BBC has published a story regarding the rise of workers over 50 who are commencing apprenticeships....
Were you one of the unlucky commuters stuck in the middle of the dispute between Trade Unions and staff on the London Underground yesterday? Many commuters faced hours of delays and cancelled trains as they tried to get to and from work after 11,000 members of the RMT union and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) started a 24 hour walk out at 7pm on Sunday night....
That`s right. After many blogs regarding the commencement of the Equality Act 2010, the majority of its provisions are now in force. It will be pretty much business as usual for employers, as the act is mainly a tidy up of the previous discrimination law. Employers will still need to take the same steps to avoid discrimination in their organisations as they always did....
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has upheld a Tribunal`s decision that a belief in spiritualism, life after death and the ability of mediums to contact the dead was capable of protection under dsicrimination law....
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that gossip about an employee`s pregnancy was discrimination and harassment under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975....
Government ministers have drawn up a list of over 170 quangos to be abolished, it was reported last week. A further 94 of the tax-funded bodies are also under threat of being scrapped, according to the Daily Telegraph who claim to have seen a Government list. The Cabinet Office has refused to comment on the details of a leaked document....
From 1st October new National Minimum Wage rates apply....
Simon Clark, Director of lobby group Forest, Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco has expressed concern that smokers will lose out on jobs because their lives at work will become "so complicated that employers will decide it`s too much trouble to employ them."...
Is Lord Young going to blitz Health and Safety Legislation? As we reported a month or so ago, Lord Young has been reviewing health and safety regulations to determine whether they are too onerous....
Since the election, there has been a considerable increase in media and political interest in the involvement of the Third Sector in public service provision. The impact of the recession, a rise in the demand for services and a reduction in public and corporate income has created a challenging environment for charities and voluntary groups. Despite claims that the UK is emerging from the recession, cuts to public spending mean that we are probably just entering the most painful phase of uncertainty and job reductions....
Employers who are sued by a former employee are unlikley to want to give them a glowing reference. However, a recent case has shown the risks of giving poor references in these situations....